weight loss · Mar 26, 2025

How Long Does It Take to Notice Weight Loss?

woman weighing herself on scale in bathroom next to motus and nouro tonum supplements

By Emily Johnson, MS, RD

If you've ever embarked on a weight loss journey, you've likely found yourself examining your reflection in the mirror, wondering when your hard work will finally pay off. Weight loss doesn't happen overnight, and the timeline for seeing and feeling changes varies significantly from person to person. Factors like metabolism, lifestyle habits, and body composition all affect how quickly your body will drop weight.

The number on the scale might shift early on (often due to initial water loss), but true fat loss takes longer to become noticeable. That said, there are some stages that everyone can expect to encounter along their weight loss journey. In this article, we’ll discuss a realistic weight loss timeline and let you know what to expect along the way.

Factors That Affect Weight Loss

As mentioned, no two weight loss journeys are alike, because no two people are exactly the same. There are factors in our control and out of our control that affect our weight loss timeline.

How much weight you’re trying to lose. If you have a lot of weight to lose when you start out, you’ll likely lose weight more quickly than someone who is a healthy weight and wants to lose five pounds.
Metabolism. Your metabolism refers to how fast your body burns energy or calories. If you have a fast metabolism, you may find it easier to lose weight than someone with a slow metabolism [1].
Calorie intake and nutrition. Part of weight loss is how much energy you are taking in. If you are frequently taking in more calories than you burn, you will struggle to lose weight. But beyond that, the quality of the calorie matters. Even if you are reducing your calories, eating mainly processed foods instead of whole foods can make weight loss a challenge. Processed foods, which are often high in refined carbohydrates, can lead to spikes in your blood sugar that trigger energy crashes, dizziness, and sugar cravings, all of which can encourage snacking — sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Focus on eating whole foods such as lean protein (chicken, chickpeas, fish, eggs); complex carbohydrates (brown rice, quinoa, peas); healthy fats (avocados, olives, nuts); colorful vegetables (arugula, broccoli, beets, squash); and fruits (berries, oranges, cherries).
Lifestyle. Your lifestyle, and the habits you engage in, are a big driver of weight loss and how successful your efforts are. Things like how often you exercise, your stress levels, and your sleep quality can all impact weight loss. If you don’t get enough sleep or are highly stressed, you may experience hormonal imbalances, disrupted motivation, and cravings for unhealthy foods – all of which make it harder to lose weight.
Age. As we age, losing weight becomes more challenging. Hormonal changes that come with menopause in women and andropause in men can lead to stubborn weight gain, especially around the midsection [2, 3].
Genetics. It is well known that genetics can contribute to obesity, though the mechanisms of this are murky [4]. Genetics can impact your appetite and satiety, how your body stores fat, and your metabolic rate [5, 6, 7]. The good news? Even if your genetics make it tougher, you still can lose weight sustainably and effectively — it just may be a slower process.

Stages of Weight Loss

While the timeline of weight loss looks different for everyone, there are some stages of weight loss that one can expect to encounter throughout their weight loss journey.

Stage 1: Rapid weight loss

When you initially begin a weight loss regime, you may see weight come off quickly. Any new habit, like cutting out junk food, or upping your exercise, will shock the body, and jumpstart weight loss. It’s important not to get too excited, though. This first week or two of rapid weight loss is mostly due to water weight. When you reduce energy intake and increase energy output (via exercise), your body looks to the first available source of fuel to burn, which is glycogen. Glycogen is the stored form of carbohydrate that the body stores in the liver and muscles [8]. Glycogen is bound to water, so when you burn through your glycogen stores, you are also getting rid of the water it is bound to — hence, rapid loss of water weight [9].

If you are taking a GLP-1 agonist, like Mounjaro, Ozempic, or Wegovy, you may notice this same drop in weight in the first few weeks, along with a reduction in appetite [10]. However, most weight loss on GLP-1 agonists occurs around four-to-five months. If you’re taking a natural supplement like Motus in addition to a GLP-1 agonist, you may notice weight loss even earlier than this. In a study performed on mice, taking Motus alongside semaglutide resulted in 142% greater weight loss in one-third less time than semaglutide on its own [20].

Stage 2: Slowed weight loss

After the first few weeks of rapid weight loss, things will start to slow down. You won’t notice the scale dropping as dramatically week-to-week. This is because your body is now burning through your fat stores, which takes longer [11]. Your body learns that energy is becoming scarce, and will work to conserve the fat stores you have. This may feel frustrating, but it’s part of the process!

For the next six months or so, your body will slowly burn through fat stores, reducing your body weight. While the timeline is different for everyone, expect to stick to it for around six months. Research suggests that if you can stick to a weight loss regime for this amount of time, you’ll have a higher likelihood of losing and keeping the weight off [12]. Your body will adapt to the changes in energy intake, and you can keep yourself feeling full and maintaining muscle mass by eating sufficient protein during this process [13]. Maintaining muscle mass is crucial in this stage, as it can support metabolic rate and help you achieve a lean, toned look [14].

Stage 3: Weight loss plateau

Perhaps the most frustrating stage is hitting a weight loss plateau, when your body adjusts to the dietary and lifestyle changes you have made in the past six months or so. In this stage of weight loss, which is also known as adaptive thermogenesis, your body has adapted to its new, lower weight, leading to a slower metabolic rate and shifts in the hormones that regulate appetite and satiation [15]. In other words, it’s harder to drop weight, and your weight loss efforts may not yield the same results as they did in stages one and two, when you first started your journey.

While these adjustments are natural and healthy, they can be frustrating when it comes to your efforts to continue to lose weight. Your hard work isn’t paying off like it used to, and that can feel defeating. However, now is not the time to give up, but rather adapt your strategy, just like your body is adapting to its new normal. Increase movement and work on strength training to cut fat and retain muscle mass, and focus on whole foods like lean protein, healthy fat, and complex carbs to fuel your body to bust through a weight loss plateau.

Stage 4: Maintenance

Reaching your goal weight is a huge milestone, and you should be proud of all your hard work, But remember, when people lose a large amount of weight, most of them regain it two-to-three years later [16]. This is because they see weight loss as an endpoint, where once they’ve reached their goal weight, they go back to eating and skipping exercise like they used to.

The key is to stick to your new diet and lifestyle habits. Without maintaining a healthy diet, engaging in daily movement, strength training two-to-three times a week, managing stress, and getting sufficient sleep, it will be difficult to maintain your weight loss. But this is why slow and steady weight loss is much more effective than crash diets or approaches like metabolic confusion, which lack sufficient evidence. The slow, purposeful loss of weight through habit-building and lifestyle change is more sustainable in the long term and tends to see more success [17].

Natural Weight Loss Tips

While it may seem like everyone is using GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight, there are still many lifestyle changes that are tried and true and can help you lose weight sustainably without pharmaceuticals.

1. Diet

To lose weight sustainably, focus on eating whole foods, such as:

lean protein from poultry, fish, and lean cuts of beef;
complex carbohydrates like oats, brown rice, and legumes; and
healthy fats from avocados, nuts and seeds, and olive oil.

Aim to eat high-fiber foods like broccoli, berries, leafy greens, and whole grains to stay full on lower-calorie foods.

2. Exercise

Exercise is an essential part of losing and maintaining a healthy weight. Aim to get 10,000 steps a day or 30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity exercise. Incorporate weight training 2-3 times a week to build muscle, reduce fat, and improve your body composition.

3. Sleep

If your sleep cycle is disrupted, your hormones that affect appetite, weight loss, and cravings will be working against you in your weight loss efforts. Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night, and try to go to bed and wake within a 30-minute window each day.

4. Stress

Cortisol is a stress hormone that can contribute to inflammation and the retention of weight [18]. Reduce stress by practicing breathing techniques, going for walks, practicing yoga, and engaging in relaxing hobbies, like reading, going for walks, meditating, and spending time in nature.

5. Supplementation

Supplements can support your efforts towards losing weight. Tonum’s proprietary supplement blend for weight loss, Motus, contains several research-backed natural ingredients, such as berberine, ALA, siliphos, and taurine, which are clinically proven to boost natural GLP-1 production and support weight loss. Through research conducted alongside Duke University, Motus has shown up to 25% fat loss in mice, while maintaining muscle mass [19].

Takeaways

Losing weight can seem daunting, but it isn’t impossible. With determination, hard work, and step-by-step lifestyle changes for better health, you can lose weight sustainably and maintain a lower weight for the long term. Lifestyle changes like diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and supplementation with Motus will be key to success and meeting your weight loss goal.

References

Emily Johnson, MS, RD, is a health editor and writer with expertise in research, metabolic health, and glucose management. She has written and edited for several health tech companies, including Tonum, Veri, Oura, Doximity, and InsideTracker. When she is not writing for Tonum, she can be found reading novels, writing her newsletter, traveling, or getting some exercise with her rescue dog, Ponyboy.